Season 2 Episode 07: Storyteller in the Hall
"Storyteller in the Plaza" (広間の語り部, Hiroma no Kataribe) is the seventh episode of the second season of the Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon anime series. It was released on August 18, 2012, and was directed by Yoriko Tomita. The unveiling of "Scarred"'s identity as Double Bloody Mary puts her date with Tenzou to an abrupt end. With this, the period of festivities end, and the more serious topics which concerns the relationship between Musashi and England are put into the spotlight. Synopsis In the midst of a small English crowd, "Scarred" reveals in front of her twin sister Elizabeth and Tenzou Crossunite that she is Double Bloody Mary, the girl who inherited the names — and the crimes committed — by Queens Mary Tudor and Mary Stuart. As the Oxford TRUMPS gather what happens to be the Queen of England, Elizabeth, Tenzou watches in surprise as a teary-eyed Mary finally accepts her fate and approaches him, reminding Tenzou of the game she wanted to play... the one that involves Tenzou unveiling his true face before her. The ninja is startled when Mary prepares to offers a kiss to him, but Tenzou humbly refuses, and instead asks Mary is she would be fine after the execution is over. Mary assures him that she will be fine, and soon admits her defeat in their little game. Soon, and Tenzou and Mary exchange their goodbyes, Tenzou reluctantly asks Mary about the type of man she prefers to be with. Mary tells him that she has no clear preferences, but she wanted to be the girl who would be able to give that person a scar that lasts a lifetime. Tenzou, upon remembering how Mary had healed his scar a few days ago, realizes that he might not have been the one Mary chose in the end. As Mary and Tenzou part ways, Suzu suddenly contacts Tenzou, telling him to stop Mary from continuing with the execution. It turns out that the grounds to be used in Mary's execution was designed to resemble the one that was almost used to execute Horizon in Mikawa. Also, with Futayo's permission, Adele reveals the true meaning behind the epitaph located at the execution grounds: "Mary's proud spirit will forever be with England." Based on Adele's findings, the execution grounds will disintegrate Mary and will use her to strengthen the Excalibur Caliburn, merging her permanently with England's ether vein and becoming a protective force for England. Thus, the words "salvation" and "being saved" are all lies. Upon realizing Mary's real situation, Tenzou tries to catch up to her, but he was swiftly taken down by Walter Raleigh's Gravity Sword. Fortunately for him, Mary was able to stop Raleigh from doing any further harm. As Tenzou lies on the ground with a gash on each shoulder, Tomo, Toori, P-01s and Masazumi, along with Mary's companion Milton, come to Tenzou's aid. As Tomo assesses Tenzou's injury, Milton confronts Raleigh about his decision to help bring Mary to her grave, calling him Yamanaka in the process. Elizabeth soon speaks, telling Milton that there is a vacant spot in Oxford TRUMPS that is waiting for him, but Milton strongly rejects the offer, pointing out that he has no intent in becoming a protector of England at the cost of a noble spirit's life. Soon, Elizabeth declares that the fun part of the festival is over, and that the moment to decide the next step for England and Musashi will now begin. At Charles Howard's place in London, Heidi, who joins Shirojiro in handling the paperwork for the festival, wonders about what would take place in the party at night. Shirojiro explains that the duel that happened between key members of Musashi and England showed that England is trying their best to secure Musashi (which is in favor of the Testament Union), while also proving that Musashi's forces are at par with England's. Despite ending at a win-win situation, England is now at a threat from other nations. Thus, Charles decides to put the Musashi on hold in English waters for the meantime. Heidi seems to dislike the response, but Shirojiro leaves this to Masazumi. At Musashi, Kimi is still helping out with Nate's grievous injuries, and is telling Toori to be prepared for anything, although she advises Toori to not give an exaggerated response since Nate has pretty much prepared her for being heavily injured like this. Then, Kimi suddenly opens the door and declares that Nate's breasts have gotten flat due to her fight with F. Walsingham just a while ago. A flustered Nate, who is naked except for a white blanket covering her body, is shocked upon seeing Toori barge in on her while she is trying to get dressed. Two destroyed nightstands and two holes in the wall later, Toori puts some strengthening nail polish on Nate's fingernails while Horizon peels some apples. Toori notes that Nate might have been struggling on using her Argentees Chaines due to the pain in her fingertips, so he is applying the nail polish to strengthen her broken nails. Horizon also thanks Nate for allowing her and Toori to talk without any problems. Although Nate appears to refuse the viceroys' gestures of gratitude, she is helpless about it, as Toori proceeds to put some strengthening nail polish on her toenails as well. Meanwhile, at the slums of Tres España, Takakane Hironaka, along with the Flores siblings, watch as Felipe Segundo, dressed in the clothes of a commoner, plays chess with the townsfolk, which is mostly composed of half-elves. Pedro asks Takakane about Felipe's frequent visits to the slums, and Takakane reveals that Felipe has been doing this for a long time. Takakane reveals that these half-elves were once part of the armies of Tres España, and most of them were turned into disposable troops that died in the battlefield without any compensation, especially during the Battle of Lepanto. He reveals that this kind of prejudice against half-elves, whose mental ability is much slower than that of normal human's, has been going on for some time, but an unknown commander changed this when he migrated a large number of half-elves safely. Pedro suspects that Felipe might have been the man behind the survival of the half-elves that now comprise the slums they are in now, while Takakane is only sure that Felipe will continue to visit the town and play with its folk. Inside Oxford Academy, preparations for the festival to be held there is on the way. Many of the students of Musashi Ariadust Academy are already in their best dresses. As Masazumi gets her rather masculine outfit for the festival, she notices something jutting out behind Horizon. To her shock, it was the hilt of the Lype Katathlipse, which was reported to have been missing earlier. Horizon reveals that she had actually installed an ability to hide desired items in a separate space, and Margot thinks that Horizon had been sleeping lately because she was installing this ability. Tomo also notices that Horizon has begun participating in public chat, and assumes that she might have sealed a contract somewhere. Then, Horizon begins to pull out some stuff from that separate space, including what seems to be a bowl of rice topped with some seaweed. The girls quickly run away in disgust as Horizon flaunts it for others to see. Nate, Tomo, Adele, Suzu and Futayo soon head to the throne room, where they see someone with black hair and a flat chest being kissed on the hand by one of the students of Oxford Academy. Although Adele, Nate and Futayo were unable to determine the mysterious girl in blue, Tomo appears to have an idea on who she(?) is... Soon, as Elizabeth, now dressed in her lavish garb, sits on her throne, Kimi enters the throne room, finally exposing the true identity of the lady in blue, who is none other than Toori himself! At the sound of the bell tower, Mary sits alone in her room as the meeting between England's and Musashi's Student Council and Chancellor's Board commences... without Toori's presence, as he is swiftly tied up and locked in a room inside the castle. With the signal given by Robert Dudley, the meeting begins with Masazumi introducing herself once again to Elizabeth. Masazumi then lays out her proposal for England to allow Musashi to sail out once again, pointing out their mission to prevent the Apocalypse. However, Elizabeth quickly refuses, reminding Musashi that their actions will impede the flow of history recreation, and assures them that there will be ample time to think about the Apocalypse at the Peace of Westphalia. She suggests that it would be better for all of the nations to submit their respective Logismoi Óplo during the conference so that Musashi would fulfill their mission there, as having collected those superweapons before that time will cause the power balance to crumble quickly. Masazumi refuses Elizabeth's proposal, and explains that their aim is to complete the sovereign of the Far East, Horizon Ariadust, and will not accept waiting for the Peace of Westphalia for it to happen. She points out that she aims for the retrieval of the Mortal Sin Armaments, and the equality of the Far East with other nations by preventing the Apocalypse before the Peace of Westphalia. Elizabeth wonders if the Far East's proposal is actually a show of interest in overthrowing the Testament Union and taking over the Divine States, and reminds Masazumi of what happened during the Harmonic Unification War. As Innocentius of K.P.A. Italia and Felipe Segundo voice their rejection of Masazumi's proposal, Elizabeth asks for Masazumi's response. And her response is that Musashi has already decided to reject the provisional rule imposed against them. Innocentius is outraged by Masazumi's declaration. Masazumi soon points out that each of the nations in the Divine States have an academy conflict system, which the Far East, while under provisional rule, never used. However, the Far East will decide to use it now, until the Mortal Sin Armaments have all been retrieved. To add, Masazumi proposes that all of the countries who have returned their Mortal Sin Armaments or do no possess one would be considered as allies of Musashi, putting Musashi responsible for the balance of power in the Divine States. And Masazumi is offering England to be Musashi's very first ally. Elizabeth refuses... but only to cause tension. The Fairy Queen admits that she is interested with the proposal, but she notes how dangerous the Musashi is with its capabilities to hide from plain sight using its stealth system. She warns that any show of force by Musashi to displace the other nations out of the Far East would be answered by force as well. Masazumi stops both sides from going into aggression mode and points out England's lack of naval firepower to attack Musashi, with its vast majority allotted for surveillance of activity in Tres España. Taking this opportunity, the Musashi prepares to depart, with their next destination decided to be Hexagone Française, the home of IZUMO, the makers of the city-ship. Masazumi explains that the Musashi has enough fuel for three days of normal operations, and will have enough fuel to make the journey to IZUMO. There, Masazumi declares that England's refusal will not be capable of stopping the Far East from making negotiations with other nations, not with England's incapable fleet. Elizabeth is insulted by the Far East's insolence. As she boasts her luminous fairy wings, the sign of her fairy lineage, before the Far East and her English colleagues, she declares that she still has cards to deal. Elizabeth mentions her alliance with Holland, and her capability of putting hold history recreation and asking assistance from the Testament Union, not to mention the Excalibur Caliburn in her hands, will give England more chances to sink the Musashi. And now, a Hollandaise fleet, now in the possession of Charles Howard, is approaching the departing city-ship. Elizabeth confidently awaits Masazumi's response. Then, Masazumi points out that the Far East is not interested in exchanging fire with England, and that England's decision to put the power of "sinking the Musashi" in the hands of other nations would only emphasize the fact that "England, by itself, cannot sink the Musashi". Felipe Segundo cannot help but feel disappointed at England's actions. He feels that England has just opened an opportunity for Musashi to force England to be indebted to them, now that England just opened themselves for being questioned for the reason behind their decision to relinquish this power to her allies. Meanwhile, Masazumi begins to grasp the reason why England is currently incapable of taking on Musashi by itself. She observes that England's naval might, which is allied with Holland's, is scattered across the sea while performing surveillance, while England's land troops, in preparation of the recreation of the Armada War, are scattered across the landmass, making London a vulnerable area to attack. Futayo notes that there are only around 500 men consisting England's army, and Futayo admits that she can take on all of them at once. Masazumi then points out that using the Excalibur Caliburn to take down the Musashi would cause Mary's execution, which is vital to the recreation of English history, to be put on hold. Masazumi assures Elizabeth that Musashi will not attack England to give them ample time to prepare for the Armada War. Elizabeth is slowly losing her temper over Masazumi's proposals, but she admits that Masazumi has a firm grasp of England's situation. Soon, Elizabeth tells Masazumi that before she would decide on her response, she points out that more complications will arise from the Far East's ideas of offering allegiance with England, and she asks about England's benefits in accepting her proposal. Masazumi's response: to allow England to be Musashi's base of commerce. Elizabeth is interested at Masazumi's choice to strengthen England's commerce. Not only can Musashi preserve its domestic affairs, but England can truly rise in power by adding the imminent victory in the Armada War and England's influence in the Peace of Westphalia. This will allow England to gain more than other nations, and they will be able to proceed with the occupation of the New World smoothly. Soon, Masazumi points out that the Far East being under provisional rule does not follow historical accounts, and declares that their aim to thwart the Apocalypse, which is through the retrieval of Horizon Ariadust's emotions kept inside the Logismoi Oplo, is favorable of the normal flow of history recreation. What that said, she asks if England would allow itself to be the first nation to trudge the correct path. Suddenly, the doors to the throne room open, and Tres España's Gin Tachibana and Diego Velasquez appear before the representatives of Musashi and England. As they vocally object England's meeting with the Far East, a mysterious man accompanied by a petite lady marches on, announcing their moment to step into the spotlight. Characters By order of appearance Trivia Cultural References Quotes *"How horrible! Tenzou got a boring death!" — Tomo's immediate response to seeing Tenzou attacked by Walter Raleigh *"Musashi's representative is a pervert?" — Elizabeth's rather calm question to herself upon seeing Toori crossdressing in the throne room *".........." "Walter actually wrote something?!" TRUMPS' shared response as the taciturn Walter Raleigh actually participated in chat Category:Episodes Category:Season 2 Episodes